During a recent visit with my sister, she asked me to try a piece of custard pie that her friend had brought to her and it was amazing. However there was one problem with the pie. The aforementioned pie came from a bakery that is over 2 hours away. Thus began my quest for the perfect custard pie recipe. I began my search on Google. I typed in custard pie and I found a myriad of recipes all claiming to be the best. Then I found a pie recipe blog called http://www.everythingpies.com/. In this blog I found a few more recipes for custard pie that weren’t too different from the other recipes I had found elsewhere (eggs, milk and sugar). Then I found a section called “Vintage custard pie recipes”. This caught my attention because I write about “Heirloom recipes” which are my family’s recipes that I have tried to save from being lost forever because as some of my older relatives have passed away so have their recipes. I continued to read and the author of one recipe made a point of saying the reader needed to pay attention to a certain part of his process to achieve successful results. That’s when I realized that recipes are more than a list of ingredients. The most important part of the recipe is the methodology used by the person teaching you. So pay close attention to them because when they are gone so is the heart and soul of the recipe. Now that I am finished preaching, here is how I made my “Creamy Custard Pie” and remember to teach your children well.

9″ Single Crust Pie Shell:

1 cup flour

1 tsp. sugar

½ tsp salt

4 tbsp. salted butter (diced and chilled)

1 tbsp. Crisco shortening

¼ cup ice water

1 egg white reserved from filling recipe

Filling:

2 cups whole milk

3/4 cup Half and Half

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk (reserve the egg white)

1 tbsp. flour

1/2 cup sugar

Pie Shell: (option – 1 frozen 9″pie crust then skip to filling)

Place diced butter in freezer for 5 minutes.

Put flour, sugar, butter and salt into food processor.

Pulse 10 times. Then pulse 10 additional times while slowly dripping icewater into tube of the food processor. Mixture should look wet yet still crumbly.

Drop mixture onto a sheet of plastic wrap.

Cover with a second sheet of plastic wrap. Using a rolling-pin tap down the dough then roll it out to an 11’” circle.

Place dough while still wrapped in plastic in fridge for 20 minutes to an hour. After letting the dough rest in the fridge remove top sheet of plastic then flip the dough over and place in 9″ pie pan. Then remove final piece of plastic. Fit dough to pan then cut excess dough leaving 1 inch overhanging pan. Fold this back into the pan under its self. Pinch top edge to create fluting.

Brush the interior and top edge of the un-baked pie crust with reserved egg white before filling with custard. (This prevents the crust from getting soggy.)

Filling:

In a medium-sized sauce pan heat milk and Half and Half until small bubbles appear along the top edge of the pan and remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla, nutmeg and salt and set aside.

In a medium-sized bowl whisk the 3 eggs and 1 yolk until creamy. Save egg white for crust.

In a small bowl combine flour and sugar. (This step prevents the flour from clumping when being added to the eggs.)

Slowly whisk the sugar/flour mixture into the beaten eggs.

Slowly add 1/3 of the scalded milk to the egg/flour/sugar mixture while whisking. Then continue to add the final 2/3 of the scalded milk. (Using this method prevents the eggs from scrambling.) Avoid adding too much air into the mixture when stirring as this will cause your custard to become grainy. Slowly pour the mixture into the un-baked pie shell. Cover edges of pie with foil to keep crust from burning.

Place the pie in the lower 1/3 of a pre-heated 375 degree oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil then turn the pie 180 degrees. Continue baking until the center is set, about another 20 minutes. (The pie should have a slight wiggle like Jell-O and not be too brown on top)

Transfer the pie to a rack until cool. Then place finished pie in the refrigerator to chill. Have fun and share this recipe with your friends and family!

I had a request for a recipe from an old friend of mine (Belinda Alfonso Sandstrom). Back in about 1991 we took a trip to visit her grand father and we brought him a some of my mom’s bread pudding. He took one bite and said it reminded him of the bread pudding he had as a child in Puerto Rico. This is one of my families “Heirloom Recipes”. Try this recipe and it will become a favorite for your family.

Directions:There should be enough bread cubes to make a mound in a 10″ x 15″ baking pan.

Pour the 2 cans of Evaporated Milk over bread, refill each can with water and add to bread. Add milk, vanilla, cinnamon, raisins, sugar and 3/4 of the diced butter.

Mix all together real good, making sure the sugar is well dissolved into the bread mixture.

Let stand for 15 minutes to allow bread to soften and soak up most of the milk. The texture should be a slightly wet mush. Use the remaining butter to dot the top of the entire mixture.

Then lightly sprinkle the top with more cinnamon. DO NOT MIX. Place pan in oven and bake at 350 degrees, for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. or until knife inserted comes out clean. Top will have crispy chunks that you can’t help but to sample!The bread pudding itself will become firm once it cools off.

This is a family “Heirloom Recipe” that my mother has been making for as long as I can remember. Flan is a Spanish caramel cream custard that is popular in Puerto Rico and many other Latin American countries. This is a simple yet elegant dessert you must try!

Special equipment;

Bundt pan

Deep roasting pan

Round platter slightly larger than the Bundt pan with raised edges

Ingredients;

5 extra-large eggs

1 – 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk

1- 12 oz. can evaporated milk

12 oz. whole milk

1 1/4 cup sugar

enough hot water to fill roasting pan 2 inches high

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Assemble all of the ingredients.

Place eggs in the blender and whip for 15 seconds.

Add sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk to the blender. Then use empty can of evaporated milk to measure whole milk. Add the whole milk to the blender and whip for 30 seconds. Set aside.

Place sugar in a dry sauce pan. Cook over medium high heat.

After 5 minutes sugar will begin to clump up. Break up clumps with a wooden spoon.

Continue to cook sugar until it liquefies and turns a light caramel color. Don’t go too dark or it will get a burnt flavor.

Pour caramel into Bundt pan.

Using a wooden spoon, spread caramel half way upsides of pan including tube.

Place coated Bundt pan into roasting pan.

Pour custard mixture into Bundt pan.

Place roasting pan with Bundt pan into pre-heated oven. then pour hot water into roasting pan. About 2 inches high. Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

After removing from the oven allow to cool for 15 minutes then using a thin knife separate top edge of flan from the pan.

After flan has cooled tilt pan back and forth until you can see the caramel oozing up the sides of the pan. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or over night.

Place the inverted platter on top of the Bundt pan. Now comes the fun part. Holding the platter tight against the Bundt pan flip the pan over being careful not to lose the liquid caramel.

Note: After removing Flan from the pan there will be some hard caramel in the bottom of the pan. Don’t worry you can boil some water and pour it in the Bundt pan and it will melt away.

I promised a few friends that I would share this recipe. You will be surprised, even though it looks fancy and has an exotic name, how easy this dessert is to make. Don’t tell your friends, they will be so impressed.

Ingredients

1 Quart Heavy cream

5 wide strips of orange rind (no white)

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 packages unflavored gelatin

6 tbsp. cold water

cooking spray

Heat cream, orange rind and sugar in a heavy bottomed sauce pan until just before it begins to boil. Add vanilla. Then set cream mixture aside.

See that wasn’t too hard. Place water in a separate bowl and sprinkle gelatin on top.

Stir to dissolve.

Let gelatin stand 10 minutes. Spray Bundt pan with oil.

Pour warm cream into bowl with gelatin and stir to combine. Then pour mixture into oiled Bundt pan. Refrigerate over night or 24 hours.

Blackberry Compote

1 cup plus 2 cups Fresh Blackberries

1/4 cup Merlot wine

1/2 cup sugar

Place 1 cup blackberries sugar and wine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil stirring occasionally. Allow mixture to cool. Push mixture though a fine strainer using the back of a spoon. Add remaining whole berries to liquid and refrigerate over night.

Remove Panna cotta from mold by dipping mold in hot water being careful not to get water into mold. Dry bottom of mold with a towel then flip mold over onto serving dish and the Panna cotta will fall out.

This is a fun candy to make with the family if you can keep them from eating the candies as they go.

1/4 pound butter

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

2 cups flaked coconut

1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 ½ cups semi-sweet or bitter-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

In bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add coconut, milk, and vanilla; stir until blended. Chill for 1 hour or until firm.

Use scoop to make 1” balls. Insert a toothpick in each ball. Place balls on baking sheet; freeze.

Use a double boiler to melt chocolate.

Then using toothpicks as handles dip frozen balls into melted chocolate. I also use a spoon to assist me in covering the balls then I place them onto a cookie sheet with the tooth picks in the upright position.

Chill until firm (about 1 hour) in the refrigerator.

Remove picks from balls and then dip fork into melted chocolate then drizzle chocolate on top of the candy to cover the hole where you removed the toothpick.

There is no better combination of flavors than the marriage of butter, pecans, cinnamon and sugar. Many a great desert has been born of this “Heavenly Matrimony”. This cake has all the best notes of both “Butter Pecan Ice Cream” and “Pecan Pie”. Enjoy!

Pecan crumb:

½ cup flour

½ cup sugar

1½ tsp cinnamon

4 tbsp butter (room temperature)

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

Cake Batter:

1½ cup flour

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/3 cup plus 3 tbsp milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 extra-large egg

Icing:

¼ cup cream cheese (room temperature)

2 tbsp corn syrup

3 tbsp milk

1½ cup confectioner’s sugar

Pecan crumb:

Place flour, sugar and cinnamon into bowl of a stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment, turn on mixer to slow speed and combine ingredients. Add butter and raise speed to medium. Continue to whisk for 4 minutes then turn off the mixer and stir in the chopped pecans. Set nut mixture aside until needed.

Cake Batter:

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Combine oil, milk, vanilla and egg in a small bowl or cup.

Add wet ingredients to bowl of dry ingredients.

Stir until well combined. Batter will still have a few lumps.

Grease tube pan with butter then line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.

Spread ½ of the batter into the bottom of the tube pan.

Add ½ of the pecan crumble to the pan.

Add remaining batter by spoonfuls to the pan. (it will finish spreading out by itself while baking).

Sprinkle remaining pecan crumble on top. Bake at 400 degrees for 28 minutes. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a baking rack for 30 minutes before removing cake from the pan.

Icing:

Place cream cheese, corn syrup and milk into bowl of stand mixer. Using the whisk attachment mix until it becomes creamy. Then add confectioner’s sugar a little at a time until desired consistency is achieved. I put icing in a plastic squeeze bottle with a pointed tip to make icing the cake easy.

Find Recipe by Month

PINTEREST

Follow me on Twitter

follow me on bloglovin

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 450 other followers

Unless otherwise noted, all of "thefloribeancook" content and photography is protected by copyright laws. All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce any text or photographs without my prior written consent. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to "thefloribeancook" with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. For inquiries regarding the use, reproduction or purchase of photography seen here, please email me at Raygourmet1954@aol.com